This invention relates to fixtures utilized to support sheet members as they are fastened together, and more particularly to a fixture for positioning sheet metal panels welded together in forming the rotatable drum of a ready-mix concrete truck.
Transit concrete mixers include a cab for the operator and a rotatable drum behind the cab containing and mixing the concrete ingredients. The drum is formed of multiple sheet metal panels, welded to one another along their interfacing edges to form the unitary drum. Some of the panels, particularly the panels making up the rear cone portion of the drum, have a large surface area, and of course must be of sufficient thickness to withstand the weight and in-transit jostling of the concrete ingredients. Consequently, individual panels are heavy and difficult to handle, making the welding of these panels a cumbersome, time consuming process. Overhead cranes or the like are needed to handle subassemblies.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for supporting multiple sheet metal members for their joinder into a unitary weldment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a welding fixture for positively maintaining multiple sheet metal panels in a predetermined configuration, and maintaining this configuration during an automated welding process.
Yet another object is to provide a fixture that is movable for adjustably positioning the interfacing edges between adjacent multiple sheet metal panels, for aligning the edges to facilitate automatic welding therealong, and further to controllably move the edges with respect to welding equipment in the course of forming a weld.